diff --git a/Documentation/git-clone.txt b/Documentation/git-clone.txt
index 9ac54c282c..131e445747 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-clone.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-clone.txt
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
 'git-clone' [-l [-s]] [-q] [-n] [--bare] [-o <name>] [-u <upload-pack>]
+	  [--reference <repository>]
 	  <repository> [<directory>]
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -46,10 +47,18 @@ OPTIONS
 -s::
 	When the repository to clone is on the local machine,
 	instead of using hard links, automatically setup
-	.git/objects/info/alternatives to share the objects
+	.git/objects/info/alternates to share the objects
 	with the source repository.  The resulting repository
 	starts out without any object of its own.
 
+--reference <repository>::
+	If the reference repository is on the local machine
+	automatically setup .git/objects/info/alternates to
+	obtain objects from the reference repository.  Using
+	an already existing repository as an alternate will
+	require less objects to be copied from the repository
+	being cloned, reducing network and local storage costs.
+
 --quiet::
 -q::
 	Operate quietly.  This flag is passed to "rsync" and
@@ -112,6 +121,16 @@ $ git show-branch
 ------------
 
 
+Clone from upstream while borrowing from an existing local directory::
++
+------------
+$ git clone --reference my2.6 \
+	git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.7 \
+	my2.7
+$ cd my2.7
+------------
+
+
 Create a bare repository to publish your changes to the public::
 +
 ------------
diff --git a/diff.c b/diff.c
index d75e0178ff..0a832c3585 100644
--- a/diff.c
+++ b/diff.c
@@ -250,13 +250,14 @@ static void show_stats(struct diffstat_t* data)
 	for (i = 0; i < data->nr; i++) {
 		struct diffstat_file *file = data->files[i];
 
+		len = strlen(file->name);
+		if (max_len < len)
+			max_len = len;
+
 		if (file->is_binary || file->is_unmerged)
 			continue;
 		if (max_change < file->added + file->deleted)
 			max_change = file->added + file->deleted;
-		len = strlen(file->name);
-		if (max_len < len)
-			max_len = len;
 	}
 
 	for (i = 0; i < data->nr; i++) {